Long time, no blog

Producing a high quality blog such as mine is not easy!  Especially when you’re coordinating an apartment move with 2 guys and 2 dogs (my ambiguous living situation).  When I started this blog I was hoping it would generate a snowball effect of creativity and motivation that would build and the blog would grow with awesome content and some of the creativity and motivation would overflow into other parts of my life and everything would get better and better.  The reality is that blogging is a commitment.  It’s fulfilling, but you only get out what you put in!  I have a much greater appreciation for the really awesome blogs that I like to read and the ones my friends have created. 

Community tables.  I grew up with tons of people pretty much everywhere.  Privacy was a joke, and closed doors and locks were not allowed.  As such, I’m no stranger to communal tables.  They’re quite unusual in Dallas, but since I go to all the trendy restaurants we are encountering them more frequently.  Communal tables are more common in Europe because they don’t have the space and freedom we enjoy in Texas.  I used to go to the cafeteria at Manor (a Swiss department store and grocer) and sit at the communal tables during lunch or for a snack after getting some groceries and try to eavesdrop on the people talking around me to improve my language skills.  The conversations were always very interesting because my understanding was a synthesis of amateur Italian skills and a huge imagination.

Bolsa. Last weekend we went to Bolsa, actually it probably wasn’t the weekend, I think it was Thursday.  The weather has been so beautiful lately that we wanted to eat local organic food on a patio with some wine: Bolsa’s specialty.  When we arrived the hostess told us we would have to wait 20 minutes for a spot on the patio or we could be seated now at a communal table.  I was intrigued. I wanted to shout out Yes! that is the table for us.  We will gladly break bread with strangers!  However, my main man M is not the communal table type unless it’s with a bunch of dogs or computers. Small talk with strangers is painfully brutal for M; conversations are a practicality in his world. It was best to leave this decision to him.  

Meanwhile, I’m quietly wondering, “who will it be?”, ”what will they be eating?”, “will they be older or younger than me”, “what if it’s a special occasion”, “am I dressed appropriately to meet what could be our new BFFs?” “will they like me!?”

And then M responded to the hostess “We’ll take the communal table”. 

I was shocked! But M is a smart guy so he probably knew I was excited by the prospect of a communal table.

When we sat down both M and I were delighted to find out that we would dine with a group of 5 ladies having a girl’s night out and celebrating a birthday! FUN.  Order the wine.

Okay I was the only one excited by this.  M was disquieted by the two kids at the table, adorable girls between the ages of 5 and 7?? (I’m horrible at guessing the age of children). 

We enjoyed a delicious dinner starting with a cheese plate.  Always get the cheese plate at Bolsa.  They use local artisan cheese and usually feature at least one cheese that is made in-house by the chef.  That evening, the in-house cheese was my favorite.  It was blue cheese with vegetable mash.  Also, at Bolsa they don’t skimp on the fruit and nut selection on the cheese plate.  What is more frustrating than running out of accompaniments on your cheese plate?? Our communal table birthday partiers had the flatbread.  Not a bad choice either but I prefer the cheese plate.

For our entrees I had the redfish with bok choy and M had a double size order of the skirt steak (it only comes with 4 ounces for a regular order).  We agreed that the redfish was the right choice because it had a Louisiana-style spicy sauce that was different and tasty. Caveat, it was a little too salty for my taste.  Our neighbors shared some small plates and got the roasted chicken to share, which was a contender for my selection but I was satisfied with my choice (no food envy).

Then came the b-day celebration at the other end of the table! I sang along and M tried to act like he didn’t notice.

The b-day celebration inspired me to get some desserts – take out.  Bolsa has awesome desserts and 2 that feature bananas, a welcome addition to any dessert in my opinion.  We got the banana cake to-go and the white chocolate rum tile.  The banana cake was like a very moist banana flavored spice cake with cream cheese icing that seemed whipped.  It was light and delicious.  Our neighbors had it for the b-day cake.  The tile is one of our favs, I gotta have it!.  The crust is crushed vanilla wafers, the middle is some delicious miracle of white chocolate cheesecake type stuff, and it’s topped with bruleed bananas and toffee sauce. YUum! I love dessert with bananas. soo good.  I’ve included a pic below to enhance my blog.  This pic came from the internet because I got my tile to-go that evening and devoured it before I could snap a pic.

At the end of the night I had to tell the ladies how lovely their 2 daughters are and that we were glad to have chosen the communal table.  They laughed and responded that their decision to take the communal table was based on the idea that no one would want to sit with a bunch of ladies and kids, so they thought they would have the place to themselves.  Dallas is a city that is spread out.  Despite all the southern hospitality and friendliness it can feel lonely here.  We all have cars and it’s very easy to go about your life without any interaction with strangers (which is probably why M moved here).  However, sharing an evening with 5 strangers was an enriching experience that made Thursday (or whatever day it was) a little different and a lot of fun.

Here is a picture of our community table (I tried to be discreet with the camera, so I couldn’t get all of the ladies in the shot, but doesn't that cheese plate look divine!):